From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 5 sep 2002 Subject: Last week in Shukan Shogi (no. 957, August 28th 2002) There was quite a lot of shogi news in the two Shukan Shogi issues I am behind. Instead of putting all the news in one big mail, I decided to do the two reports separately. In this report the news from issue no. 957, with the 4th game of the Oi match between Habu and Tanigawa as the most important feature. Habu won the game to stay in the match. It was a good win that he desperately needed to change the flow of the match. Here is the game with comments: Black: Tanigawa Koji, Challenger White: Habu Yoshiharu, Oi 43rd Oi-sen, Game 4, August 19th and 20th 2002 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:07:00 3.P2g-2f 00:11:00 00:07:00 4.G4a-3b 00:11:00 00:12:00 5.G6i-7h 00:12:00 00:12:00 6.P8d-8e 00:12:00 00:21:00 7.B8h-7g 00:12:00 00:21:00 8.P3c-3d 00:12:00 00:23:00 9.S7i-8h 00:13:00 00:23:00 10.B2bx7g+ 00:13:00 00:28:00 11.S8hx7g 00:14:00 00:28:00 12.S3a-4b 00:14:00 00:28:00 13.S3i-3h 00:19:00 00:28:00 14.S7a-7b 00:19:00 00:31:00 15.P9g-9f 00:27:00 00:31:00 16.P9c-9d 00:27:00 00:36:00 17.P4g-4f 00:34:00 00:36:00 18.P6c-6d 00:34:00 00:44:00 19.S3h-4g 00:41:00 00:44:00 20.S7b-6c 00:41:00 00:49:00 21.K5i-6h 00:44:00 00:49:00 22.P1c-1d 00:44:00 01:15:00 23.P1g-1f 00:46:00 01:15:00 24.K5a-4a 00:46:00 01:17:00 25.K6h-7i 00:58:00 01:17:00 26.K4a-3a 00:58:00 01:20:00 27.G4i-5h 01:05:00 01:20:00 28.S6c-5d 01:05:00 01:29:00 29.P3g-3f 01:22:00 01:29:00 30.G6a-5b 01:22:00 01:39:00 31.S4g-5f 01:36:00 01:39:00 32.P4c-4d 01:36:00 01:41:00 33.P6g-6f 01:46:00 01:41:00 34.P7c-7d 01:46:00 01:52:00 35.N2i-3g 02:00:00 01:52:00 36.N8a-7c 02:00:00 02:43:00 37.P2f-2e 02:22:00 02:43:00 38.S4b-3c 02:22:00 02:47:00 A brave decision by Habu to play the Kakugawari opening when he is 3-0 down against Tanigawa, who is considered to be almost unbeatable with this opening. Habu realises that he not only has to win this game, but also all the other three games in this match to keep his Oi title. Therefore, winning this fourth game is a requirement to stay alive, but it would be an important bonus for the rest of the match if he could win while doing some psychological damage as well. What better way to make Tanigawa think than to beat him in his favourite opening? Of course, it would be suicide if Habu would just plunge in and hope for the best. He has prepared a very interesting move... 39.P4f-4e 02:57:00 02:47:00 40.P4dx4e 02:57:00 02:50:00 41.P3f-3e 02:57:00 02:50:00 42.S3c-4d 02:57:00 02:59:00 43.P1f-1e 03:06:00 02:59:00 44.P1dx1e 03:06:00 03:03:00 45.P2e-2d 03:07:00 03:03:00 46.P2cx2d 03:07:00 03:04:00 47.P7f-7e 03:07:00 03:04:00 48.P7dx7e 03:07:00 03:19:00 49.R2hx2d 03:08:00 03:19:00 50.P*2c 03:08:00 03:19:00 51.R2d-2i 03:08:00 03:19:00 52.G5b-6c 03:08:00 03:19:00 53.P*1b 04:15:00 03:19:00 54.L1ax1b 04:15:00 03:22:00 55.B*1a 04:16:00 03:22:00 56.S4dx3e 04:16:00 03:55:00 57.S5fx4e 04:21:00 03:55:00 58.B*2b 04:21:00 03:57:00 59.P*3c 05:06:00 03:57:00 60.G3bx3c 05:06:00 04:27:00 61.B1ax2b+ 05:06:00 04:27:00 62.K3ax2b 05:06:00 04:27:00 63.S4ex5d 05:06:00 04:27:00 64.P5cx5d 05:06:00 04:27:00 65.N3g-4e 06:16:00 04:27:00 66.G3c-2d!?! 06:16:00 04:37:00 This is Habu's new move. The position here is identical to the 4th game of the Kio match between Habu and Sato. That time Habu had black and Sato played 66.G3b here. After 67.B*4a Habu won the game, but it was quite close and he needed a mistake by Sato to make his attack work. Tanigawa said he had mainly considered 66.G3b 67.S*4c Gx4c B*4a B*1d Lx1e G4b. This is also not such a clear variation, but it seems that black still has the upper hand. 66.G2d is a move that almost no professional would play. It is bad shape and allows moves like B*4a and B*4c. It is really a move without precedent, as according to Fukaura (7-dan), a move like G2d hadn't even been played in similar positions. Fukaura also said that at best it would be a move to try in a training game, but that he would definitely not have the guts to play it at a big stage like a title match. 67.N4e-5c+? 06:50:00 04:37:00 Tanigawa's surprise at 66.G2d immediately invites a mistake. This knight is too valuable an attacking piece to just give up. After this move, the position turns in white's favour. Alternatives that were studied after the game are 67.B*4a B*7d R4i P*4f (or P*4d) and 67.B*7a R7b Bx3e+ Px3e Rx2d (or S*4d) Px2d S*3d. Both variations lead to positions that are very hard to judge and it seems almost certain that this game will be the start of some intense study by the other professionals. 68.G6cx5c 06:50:00 04:41:00 69.B*7a 06:50:00 04:41:00 70.R8b-5b 06:50:00 04:41:00 71.S*6a 06:50:00 04:41:00 72.R5b-5a 06:50:00 04:42:00 73.B7a-6b+ 06:50:00 04:42:00 74.S*4b 06:50:00 04:42:00 75.+B6bx5a 07:07:00 04:42:00 76.S4bx5a 07:07:00 04:42:00 77.R*7a 07:07:00 04:42:00 78.B*3h! 07:07:00 05:31:00 Important. Habu wants to slow the game down to make his pawn advantage work. He does this by making a promoted bishop and pulling this bishop back in defence. 78.B*3f looks good, but after the simple 79.G4h, white has no good continuation. 79.R2i-3i 07:08:00 05:31:00 80.B3h-7d+ 07:08:00 05:31:00 81.S6a-7b+ 07:09:00 05:31:00 82.+B7d-5b 07:09:00 05:31:00 83.+S7bx7c 07:09:00 05:31:00 84.B*3f 07:09:00 05:49:00 85.G5h-6h 07:17:00 05:49:00 86.P*4g 07:17:00 05:51:00 87.R7ax9a+ 07:26:00 05:51:00 88.P4g-4h+ 07:26:00 05:51:00 89.R3ix3f 07:27:00 05:51:00 90.S3ex3f 07:27:00 05:51:00 91.K7i-8h 07:27:00 05:51:00 92.R*5i 07:27:00 06:00:00 93.N*6c 07:33:00 06:00:00 94.S5a-4b 07:33:00 06:25:00 95.L*2f? 07:33:00 06:25:00 Tanigawa does everything to keep his attack going, but this is a small but significant mistake. The white king is likely to escape to 1d at some point and dropping the lance on 2f makes it impossible to drop a knight there. Better was 95.L*2h. Tanigawa said after the game that he was worried about Rx1i+ followed by +Rx2h, but agreed after the game that this was not really something to be concerned about. 96.N*2e 07:33:00 06:33:00 Or 96.+P5h Lx2d P*4a G6h-6g +Px5g Lx2c+ Kx2c P*2d K3c. "It looks dangerous, but this was indeed an alternative" (Habu). 97.B*6a 07:34:00 06:33:00 98.+B5bx6a! 07:34:00 06:41:00 Rushing the attack with 98.+P5h would be bad after 99.Bx5b+ Gx5b +R4a and the gold on 5b is attacked. With only a single bishop, it is hard to defend against the black attack. 99.+R9ax6a 07:34:00 06:41:00 100.+P4h-5h 07:34:00 06:41:00 101.+R6a-4a 07:35:00 06:41:00 102.B*3c 07:35:00 06:41:00 Attack and defence. This stops the black attack completely. The knight and silver formation on 6c and 7c is impossible to get into motion in time. 103.G6h-6g 07:46:00 06:41:00 The only way to attack is 103.B*3b, but after 104.S3a Bx2a+ Kx2a Gx5h Rx5h+ P*3b K2b black can not get to the white king. The gold on 2d is perfectly guarding the escape route of the king to 1d. 104.+P5hx5g 07:46:00 06:48:00 105.G6gx5g 07:50:00 06:48:00 106.R5ix5g+ 07:50:00 06:48:00 107.B*6h 07:50:00 06:48:00 108.+R5g-5e 07:50:00 07:15:00 109.B6hx2d 07:51:00 07:15:00 110.B3cx2d 07:51:00 07:15:00 111.G*3b 07:51:00 07:15:00 112.K2b-1c 07:51:00 07:15:00 113.+R4ax2a 07:51:00 07:15:00 114.+R5e-5h 07:51:00 07:17:00 Resigns 07:53:00 07:17:00 Black can try something like 115.+R2b, but after 116.K1d +Rx1b G*1c the attack has died. There is also no defence, as a move like 115.N*6h is answered by 116.B*4e. It is interesting to note, that if Tanigawa would have dropped the lance on 2h, then there would have been a very simple mate here with +R2b K1d N*2f. Of course this would not actually have happened, but illustrates that 95.L*2h might have given Habu more problems. So Habu gets what he wants, a win to keep the match alive and some extra bonus psychological bonus points by winning with white and beating Tanigawa in his favourite opening. The rest of the match will show if this is indeed enough to pull off a miracle. Tanigawa still needs only one win from three games... In other shogi news: ==================== * Another major upset in the Ryu-O challenger tournament, as Abe beat Fujii in the semi-final. Abe won a difficult game and will now play Nakata Hiroki in a best-of-three match to decide the challenger of Habu. With Abe a 35-year old B1 player and Nakata a 37-year old C1 player, it doesn't seem that Habu has much to fear from either of them, but both are definitely very strong players. Nakata once challenged for the Oi title (in 1991) and Abe once was considered to have a future almost as bright as Habu's. This didn't really work out that way, but Abe did win the Zen Nihon Pro tournament once. His opponent in this 1993 match: Nakata Hiroki! Who will win their second match? Hard to make a prediction using their mutual games: both players won four times. * In the A class of the Junisen, one third round game was played. Shima scored a very important point against Morishita and now has two wins and one loss. This puts him at the top of the table, but more importantly it gives him some breathing space in the fight against relegation. Rather than challenging Moriuchi, Shima's main concern will be to stay in the top class and improve his position. On the other hand, Morishita suffered his third straight loss and is now in deep trouble despite his high ranking (5th in the class). He needs to turn things around very quickly, because he still has a very tough schedule (Sato, Habu, Tanigawa and Maruyama) and suddenly might find himself in B1 next year. * In B1 the fourth round was played. Kubo continued his winning ways with a win against Kamiya. He is followed by four players with one loss: Senzaki, Inoue, Fukaura and Suzuki. Of these four, Kubo has only played Inoue, so there are still plenty of chances for the others to catch up in the remaining seven rounds. Still, before the Junisen season started, Kubo was definitely considered one of the promotion favourites, so this perfect start is exactly what he wanted after last year where an early loss against veteran Kiriyama forced him to play catch-up for the rest of the season. * In B2 the third round was played and only three players were able to keep their perfect record: Nakagawa (beat Waki), Kitahama (beat Nishikawa) and Hatakeyama Nariyuki (beat Naito). They all are strong enough to stay in the promotion race for a long time (especially Nakagawa's promotion is long overdue), but with strong followers like Namekata it is still too early to expect that two of these three will make it. Surprisingly out of contention is Kimura, who suffered his third straight loss and will have to wait until next year before he will get another chance in the Junisen. * In C2 the third round was played. This year's C2 promises to be another tight affair as there are only three players left with a perfect record after three rounds: Anyoji, Iijima, Kubota, Ueno and Ina. Furthermore, Anyoji is the highest ranked player in the class, but still he is only at place 22 (out of 45). I wouldn't call any of those five players a real favourite for promotion, so it will be interesting to see how long they can keep their winning streak going. * We are going to have a very interesting best-of-three final in the Shinjin-O tournament as Suzuki Daisuke (the highest ranked player in the tournament) beat Horiguchi to set up a meeting with last year's losing finalist Kimura. Both are arguably the strongest representatives of the new generation and the Shinjin-O tournament therefore seems to be almost assured of an exciting final. -- Reijer Grimbergen Department of Information Science Saga University 1 Honjo-machi, Saga-shi, 840-8502 Japan E-mail: grimbergen fu is saga-u ac jp URL: http://www.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp/~grimberg/ Tel: +81-(0)952-28-8821 Fax: +81-(0)952-28-8650